Summer has begun so it is time to take care of our feet, which we often expose in order to keep cool amid hot weather. We want our feet to look good, feel good, and smell good. No one wants bad smelling feet with dry cracked heels, calluses, or ugly fungal infected toenails.
While the sunny days beckon us to beaches and swimming pools, it’s important to be aware of potential foot problems that can. Here are some tips to keep your feet looking and feeling great all summer long.
1. Be sure to wash your feet everyday. Keep your feet dry and clean when away from the water, and apply a topical anti-fungal medication on any cracking or peeling.
2. Avoid going barefoot even when you go to a swimming pool. Wear slippers, shoes, or aqua shoes around the pool, on the beach and in the locker room. If you walk barefoot on warm wet floors of locker rooms, you are most likely to pick up a fungal nail infection.
3. After a long day of sightseeing, hiking or intense exercise, treat your feet to a soak in lukewarm water, a brief massage and then elevate them to take some stress off your circulatory system. Remember to pamper your feet as much as possible.
4. Be sure to wear socks when you wear sneakers. Wear socks made from acrylic fiber or 100 percent cotton and lightly powder them to keep them dry.
5. Wear shoes that fit properly and do not wear the same shoes everyday. It takes at least 24 hours for shoes to dry out after being worn. Wear shoes with good support and a wide toe area, and never wear pointed shoes that press toes together. Sandals should fit properly. The straps behind the heel can cause friction, which causes calluses to form, if too tight. If you don't wear socks, Moleskin can be used inside the sandal to prevent friction.
6. Trim toenails straight across, leaving them longer on the ends of the toes.
7. At the first sign of injury or infection, seek medical attention from a podiatrist.
8. If you have diabetes, take extra care of your feet and never walk barefoot. Minor injuries can become major infections in a short time, which could lead to amputation.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Foot Care in Summer
Excessive Drinking Decreases Brain Size
Excessive drinking on a regular basis can decrease your brain size, according to a new study.
Brain scans of more than 1,800 people showed that those who consumed more than 14 drinks a week had about 1.6 percent reduction in the ratio of brain volume to skull size compared with non-drinkers.
Researchers from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, whose findings were presented last week to the American Academy of Neurology in Boston, also discovered that drinking had a bigger impact on brain volume in women than in men. Women in their 70s appeared most affected by large amounts of alcohol.
The researchers examined results of brain scans which were performed on men and women 34 to 88 years old with no signs of dementia. Dividing the group into nondrinkers, former drinkers, low, moderate and high drinkers, the researchers measured brain volume in relation to skull size, considering a marker of brain aging.
People with a 12-year history of heavy drinking had smaller brain size than those who began drinking more moderately during that period and later consumed greater amounts, the study showed.
Heavy drinking seemed to have the most negative impact on the brain volume of women in their 70s. Past studies have suggested that older women have risk factors that make them particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of heavy drinking.
Size reductions in certain parts of the brain have been linked to Alzheimer's disease in previous research. More than 12 million Americans could be diagnosed as alcohol dependent, and consuming 12 to 15 drinks a week places a person at risk of the condition, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
